Not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.

Luke 9:51-10:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; ⁵² and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. ⁵³ But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” ⁵⁵ But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; ⁵⁶ for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.

⁵⁷ As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ And Jesus said to him, “The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” ⁵⁹ And He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ But He said to him, “Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.” ⁶¹ Another also said, “I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home.”⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

10 Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. ² And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.³ Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. ⁴ Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. ⁵ Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ ⁶ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. ⁷ Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. ⁸ Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; ⁹ and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ ¹⁰ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ¹¹ ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’ ¹² I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.

Proverbs 18:21 says:  The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.   Today’s text begins saying:  When the days were approaching for His ascension, He was determined to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him, and they went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make arrangements for Him. But they did not receive Him, because He was traveling toward Jerusalem.  When His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But He turned and rebuked them, and said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of; for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.” And they went on to another village.   The disciples recognized the power that they had available in the name of Jesus. They recognized that their words carried the power of death or life. Jesus rebuked them for their desire to speak condemnation and death. We too need to recognize the power of our words and lest we be rebuked by Jesus, we need to speak life and not death. We need to recognize that: The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them.   2 Peter 3:9 says:  The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.    The time of judgment will come. Jesus will return as righteous judge. Until then we need to have the same patience He has. We need to be of the same mind as Him. Our desire, like His, should be that no one would perish, but all would come to repentance. Jesus did not condemn those in the village, but neither did He stay. The text says:   And they went on to another village.   Jesus had a purpose in everything He did. In John 5:19-20 Jesus says:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.”  Like Jesus, we need to do what the Father is doing. We live in the time of grace, not judgment. We need to speak words of life not death. We need to go where we are sent.

Look at the end of the text though:  Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come. And He was saying to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house.’ If a man of peace is there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in that house, eating and drinking what they give you; for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not keep moving from house to house. Whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you; yet be sure of this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’  I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.”   This is the same charge Jesus gave previously to the twelve disciples in Luke 9. Look what Jesus says they should do when the gospel of the kingdom is not received:   “Whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off in protest against you.”  They still are not to call down judgment upon those who do not believe and receive. Like Jesus though they are not to stay where they are not received. The day of judgment will come. Jesus says:  “I say to you, it will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom than for that city.”   Looking again at 2 Peter 3, verses10-12 say:  But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…    The coming judgment will be no less severe than the judgment of Sodom. Yet it is not for us to pronounce that judgment. Instead, because of the coming judgment, we are to be people who are holy and blameless. We are to look forward to and even hasten the coming day of the Lord. How can we hasten the day of the Lord?  The answer lies in the desire that God wants no one to perish, but all to come to repentance. We then should join Him, doing what He is doing. We should be laborers in His harvest. In Mark 16:15-16 Jesus says:  “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.  He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.”   Those who disbelieve shall be condemned, but we are not to condemn them. Our words have the power of life and death. Jesus has called us and commissioned us to speak life. Because we know that the day of judgment will come, yet having the same mind as the Lord we desire that no one should perish, we are to live holy and blameless speaking truth and life, testifying of Jesus, who came to save lives not destroy them.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for Your love and patience; for Your grace. May I recognize the power of my words and may my words be Your words. May I speak life and live as light. May my desire be as Yours, that no one would perish, but all would come to repentance before the day of judgment.  Amen.